laowhy

hi all, current first year MA at Hopkins-Nanjing, if any of you are looking at the certificate or two-year program, feel free to ask me anything

I think I received a single payment check of ~$1350 before the program began. It came directly to my home as a federal check.

To all here, I was admitted to the HNC SAIS program with a modest funding package, but still seems to be more than Hopkins normally gives. For those of you ultimately choosing SAIS, how are you reconciling the cost? I really love SAIS, but am apprehensive to tack on more loans.

For those interested, I sent an e-mail to both of the programs I'm considering (to the people that signed my acceptance letters). I talked about my financial situation very briefly and expressed why I thought it be pertinent to reconsider my funding package. I did not write a incredibly long e-mail, but showed genuine interest and financial burden. I received e-mails back from both within 48 hours, one school saying that they would be meeting to reconsider the funding package in the next week, and another offering an additional, substantial amount. I would say the most important part of asking for funding reconsideration is to not come off as aggressive or cheeky, especially when referring to packages from other schools. I intimated how much my cost of attendance would be for both programs, but didn't ask a given school to *match* the other's offer or talk about how it would be "hard to pass up" another package. Feel free to PM if any of you have questions.

Has anyone been accepted for a FLAS yet at any programs? I haven't heard of anyone within Mandarin language that has been notified as of yet.

Question is still pertinent to my interests.

Am currently an 'alternate'. Email indicates that the application will be evaluated by an external body (East Asian National Resource Center) and I will be notified if I receive an award. However, no notification will happen if I do not receive an award.

Got into Hopkins-Nanjing!

Does Fulbright ETA provide any funding toward graduate study after completing the program? I got into some programs I'd love to attend but are costly... I've heard that Fulbright can serve as a 'Sponsor' toward graduate study, but I'm not entirely sure what that means.

Anyone thinking of Michigan?

Yo. I applied for an ETA and my second CLS summer. I have a friend currently doing an ETA in Taiwan that did the Advanced Chinese CLS program with me this past summer. She had to miss the last two days of CLS to make it to her Fulbright orientation. From what I understand it is possible to do both, but there is a lot of logistical planning that needs to be taken care of in advance.

Savannah, I think the essays are the most important part -- the committees are surely looking at not only an ability to write, but also ways to approach disparate cultures and experiences, how you will function in a different community, and how you plan to approach intensive language study and why such study is relevant to your career and future aspirations. I had studied abroad in Taiwan and Shanghai previously, so I spoke on some of the experiences I've had and how they shaped myself as a student and person, and why continued language study is crucial for my goals. With that being said, having experience abroad is not something that the committee will find entirely important; many participants had never traveled abroad before. That is why I believe the narrative portrayed in your writing to be the most important. Example, I applied for Korean this time around, I have no background in South Korea or its language, but I talked about how knowledge of the target language would be invaluable towards my aims in graduate school Hope this helps!

I believe that there was a post for this already, but the thread deviated from the topic quite a bit. Where is everyone applying? What's your focus? Stats are welcome if you're comfortable to post them. Contemporary Chinese here!

Hi alifbaarbie, I participated in CLS Advanced Chinese this past summer and re-applied for Korean this summer. I heard back about being a semi-finalist on January 16, and a recipient on February 21. Good luck!

Awesome to hear. Thanks for such a prompt response!